Follow a thorough process to hire great people
With unemployment skyrocketing due to the coronavirus pandemic, you might have the chance to add some new team members. Don’t miss this opportunity; build a framework for a smart and effective hiring process.
“Those who succeed at hiring great employees make hiring a priority,” says Bob Milligan, senior consultant at Dairy Strategies and former Cornell University professor. “The internet and social media have greatly reduced the financial cost of recruitment, but at the same time the increasingly difficult labor market has increased the time requirement for hiring.”
Start by building a checklist to formalize the process as much as possible, suggests Ryan Milhollin, University of Missouri Extension specialist.
“By spending time upfront and hiring the right person, you can avoid high turnover costs down the road,” he says.
Milligan and Milhollin provide this checklist for interviewing success.
- Recognize that an interview is an important, stressful event and significant structure is needed.
- Construct a schedule for the interview.
- Make certain the candidate understands in advance what to expect during the interview. This includes the interview time, location, schedule and format, as well as anything he/she should bring or prepare.
- Share information about the position and your business. Verbalize what people will do in their role. Also describe the culture of your business.
- Use the 80/20 listening rule. Your job is to have the candidate to talk, so spend 20% of their interview talking and 80% listening.
- Ask open-ended questions versus “yes” or “no” questions.
- Be consistent. Ask the same questions for all interviewees.
- The questions you ask should focus on the job description.
- Take good notes, as it is easy to forget each candidate’s responses.
- Be professional and showcase good etiquette; you are being interviewed, too.
- Aim for an interview length between 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- At the end of the interview inform the candidate about the next step and when they will hear from you next.
Smart Interview Questions
A job interview is your opportunity to evaluate if someone is a fit for your farm. Avoid topics such as race, age, religion, politics, ethnicity, medical conditions, sexual orientation and family status, says Ryan Milhollin, University of Missouri Extension specialist. Here are some acceptable and insightful questions to ask:
- Tell me about job tasks for which you’ve been responsible for the past.
- What types of tasks have you enjoyed the least (or most)? Why?
- Why are you interested in this position?
- An important task in this job is ____. What related experience do you have?
- Think of a skill that you previously had to learn on the job. What was your approach to making sure you learned it?
Too many farmers take costly shortcuts when adding employees. To read four blunders to avoid, visit AgWeb.com/4-hiring-mistakes
